PESHAWAR, Feb 3: With the security situation aggravating in the northern parts of the NWFP and the tribal areas, the government has registered over 40,000 internally displaced families living with relatives and friends or in rented houses in eight districts of the province.

Separately, over 3,500 families have been registered in relief camps. Families who have migrated from the conflict-hit areas to Islamabad, Punjab and Sindh have not been included in the registration process.

Officials said the intensity of the conflict in Swat could trigger large-scale displacement from the district where security forces were changing their strategy to counter militancy. According to unconfirmed reports, thousands of people were leaving those pockets where operation was in full swing.

The head of the provincial disaster management authority, Jamil Amjad, said the social welfare department in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had registered over 40,000 displaced families in eight districts who had been living with their relatives, friends or in rented buildings.

He said the authority had accommodated 62,567 internally displaced people mostly from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in 12 relief camps set up in Peshawar, Lower Dir, Nowshera and Mardan districts. In the Kacha Garhi camp, he said, the number of IDPs had reached 3,307 individuals. “The social welfare department and the UNHCR are jointly conducting the process in eight districts and registering those families who have been living with their hosts,” Mr Amjad told Dawn on Tuesday.